Construction of concrete piles or columns



' 1,634,2 June 28,1927. AHILEY v 31 CONSTRUCTION OF CONCRETE FILES OR COLUMNS Filed 36111.6, 1922 2 Sheets-Sham 1 1,634, 31 June 28. 1927. A HILEY v 2 CONSTRUCTION OF CONCRETE FILES OR COLUMNS Filed Jan. 6 1922 2 Sheets-Sham. 2

Patented June 28, 1927.

till STATES ALFRED I-IILEY, OF BICKMANSWORTH, ENGLAND.

CONSTRUCTION OF CQNCR-ETE PILES OR COLUMNS.

Application filed January 6, 1922, Serial No. 527,389, and in Great Britain February 17, 1921.

This invention relates to the construction of concrete piles or columns in situ and has for its chief object to improve upon the known methods of depositing concrete in a hole or cavity in the ground by meansof a tube which is disposedin the hole and is gradually raised during the depositing of the concrete.

In the improved method according to the present invention the concrete is both deposited from the aforesaid tube and tamped and consolidated within the hole by vertical vibratory movements given to the tube, the pile being built up by a succession of operations each of which involves the depositing of a portion of the concrete from the tube by an upward movement of the latter and the camping of the deposited concrete by a downward movement of the tube during which operations the tube gradually rises in the hole upon the concrete pile that is being built up. The upward movements of the tube may be caused by an inverted steam or other power operated hammer carried by the tube and acting preferably in the manner of a pile extractor and the downward movements may be effected merely by the weight of the tube or such portion thereof as is not balanced by a counteracting pull as by a winch connected by ropes to the tube. Preferably the winch is used without any counterbalance weights and the pull from the winch may be recorded or ascertained by means of a dynamometer so that the extent of the sup port given to the tube may be known.

The tube is preferably supported on or suspended by springs from the piling structure so that the structure is not materiallyaffected by the vibrations caused by the hammer. The springs are preferably arranged in the rope connections between the hammer and the counterbalance weights or the winch so that the springs and the hammer assist each other in giving a synchronous eifect in vibrating the tube and cause the energy from the hammer to be imparted principally to the tube which is allowed to vibrate without resistance from the mass of the piling structure. With ropes having suflicient extensibility the springs may be omitted, the ropes in this case performing the function of the aforesaid springs.

The said hammer and tube are the only essential operating parts of the apparatus for carrying the improved method into effect and by their use the disadvantages resulting from the use of a spiral vane for feeding and tamping the concrete and for raising the tuie are obviated.

p In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect the same will nowbe described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure lis a side view showing one form of apparatus for carrying the invention into effect.

Fig. ferred form of inverted steam hammer for effecting the upward movements of the tube.

Figure 2 is a side view showing one form of apparatus for driving the tube into the ground, this tube in Figures 1 to i and 7 to 9 serving both as the driving tube and as the concrete depositing and tamping tube.

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing the tube filled with concrete and the apparatus of Figure 1 ready for impart ing vibratory movements to the tube.

Figure 4 is a front view of Figure 3 with the tube slightly withdrawn.

Figures 5 and 6 are-views of two forms of completed piles, the former showing a plain concrete pile and the other a reinforced concrete pile.

Figure 7 is an enlarged section showing the preferred shape of the driving shoe and the lower endof the tube, and

Figures 8 and 9 are asectional elevation and a sectional plan showing the preferred method of detachably connecting the hammer to the tube.

Figures 10, 11 and 12 are respectively a vertical section and sections taken on the lines 11, 11 and 12, 12 of Figure showing a modified form of tube which may be used in carrying out this invention.

A is the piling structure which is shown as being mounted on rails so that it can readily be moved on wheels or rollers in making a succession of piles close together. B is the aforesaid tube and O is the hammer for imparting the aforesaid vertical vibratory movements to this tube. Thishammer may as aforesaid be an inverted steam or other hammer and is preferably detachably connected to the upper partof the tube B by the arrangement shown by Figures 8 and 9 which comprises two arms C, G depend- 1 is a vertical section of the pre ing from the hammer casing or anvil and having hook-shaped lower ends engaging under the lower edge of a metal band C riveted around the upper part of the tube, this band overlapping the upper, end of the tube as shown to protect it during the driving operation. Below said (hook shaped) ends there is a second band C against which these ends press during the downward movements of the arms under the influence ofthe reaction of the hammer C. The said arms are also held together by links C, C shown in Fig ure 9. The said hammer is shown diagrammatically in Figures 1, 3 and 4 and the preferred constructional form is shown in detail in Figure 1 this form of hammer being fully described in English Patent No. 188,061. In Figure 1, (1 is the hammer head formed on a ram C working in a cylinder C" to which pressure fluid is admitted and from which it is exhausted, by a control valve C operated by the hammer head 0 through the intern'rediary of an adjustable tappet C. C is the anvil carying the aforesaid arms C C C C are eyes on the cylinder and C is an eye on the anvil, the aforesaid ropes C 0 being connected through the aforesaid springs C C to the eyes C C or to the eye C as desired.

The casing of the hammer C is connected by springs 0*, G to ropes G, C which pass over pulleys at the top of the structure A and are connected by means of the tackle shown in Figure 1 to a winch C. A. dynamometer spring balance C (Figure 1) is provided for recording or indicating the pull exerted by the winch. I) is the driv ing shoe which is preferably of the form shown by Figure 7 with an upwardly projecting flange 0? within which the lower end of the tube B is disposed. This end of the tube may have a ring B riveted therein SO. as to strengthen this end of the tube, protect the lower edge ofthis tube and increase the tamping area of the tube. the ring may however be omitted when the tube is suficiently thick.

In carrying out my invention with the apparatus shown by Figures 1 to 9, the structure A is moved so that the tube B carried on the face thereof is above the position where the pile is to be constructed. A steam. pile driving hammer E (Figure 2) is connected to the upper end of the tube in any suitable manner and steam is admitted to this hammer from a boiler E carried by the structure. The tube, with the shoe D below it, is thus driven into the ground to the re quired depth. lVlien a protective tube F is to be employed to retain the ground from falling inwards at the upper part of the hole as shown, this tube may be detachably connected to the tube B before "the latter has springs C C the tube B is caused to rise step by step and to exert or createa down ward pressure on the concrete deposited between each of these movements; each upward movement deposits a quantity of con-' crete from the tube into the hole left by the tube and each downward pressure tamps and consolidates the concrete within the hole. )Vhen the tube B has nearly completed its upward movement, a connection is estab lished between it and the protective tube F so that the latter is then drawn out of the hole with the tube B. The shoe D is left at the bottom of the hole as shown in F igures 4 to 6. Completed piles are shown in Figures 5 and 6, the former showing a plain concrete pile and Figure 6 showing a reinforced concrete pile, the reinforcement having been placed in position in the tube B before the latter was filled with concrete.

In the alternative construction of the tube B shown by Figures 10, 11 and 12, this tube is provided near its lowe end with a number of internal circm'irt'erential collars B I3"which are continuous or interru ited and which are arran ed a suitable distance apart. These collars are of substantial length and depth and are triangular in cross-section with the upper surfaces longer than the lower surface so that the former is arranged at a more acute angle than the latter. 5y this arrangement the concrete can flow freely down ards over the sloping upper surface of each collar during the upward movements of the tube whilst the lower surfaces serve to press the concrete downwards during the downward pressure of the tube.

In cases (for example in sub-aqueous piling) where it is desired to retain a charge of concrete within the tube when the latter is being lowered into the hole in the ground,

there may be provided in the lower part of the tube (preferably between the last two collars therein) a conical member 13 arranged with its apex uppermost and attached to a central rod B This rod is so connected to the upper part of the tube (by screw gear for example) that the said conical member can at will be moved into a closed position relatively to the adjacent collar or into an open position to permit the concrete to flow past it. The said conical member when in the lastmentioned on open position also serves to assist in the tamping operation by its base, which is bluntly conical, pressing on the central portion of the concrete that is not acted upon by the lower surface of the lowermost collar.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. The method of constructing concrete piles or columns in situ, consisting in depositing the concrete into a hole from a conveying member which is disposed in the hole and with the inner surface of which the concrete is in contact, imparting vertical vibratory movement to said member in such a manner as to deposit some of the concrete from said member during its upward movements, said upward movements consisting of short discontinuous vertical vibratory translations imparted by sudden blows of a hammer and utilizing a structural part of said member to act as tamping means for the concrete in the hole on the downward movement of said member, the pile being built up and the member being gradually and automatically caused to rise in the hole upon the concrete by the said vibratory n'iovement. v

The method of constructing concrete piles or columns in situ consisting in de- 9 siting the concrete into a hole from a tube which is disposed in the hole and with the inner surface of which the concrete is in contact, imparting vertical vibratory move ment to said tube in such a manner as to deposit some of the concrete from said tube during its upward movements, said upward movements consisting of short, discontinuous vertical vibratory translations imparted by sudden blows of a hammer and utilizing a structural part of the tube to act as tamping means for the concrete in the hole on the downward movement of said tube, the pile being built up and the tube being gradually and auton'iatically caused to rise in the hole upon the concrete by the said vibratory movement.

A method of constructing concrete piles or columns in situ, wherein the concrete is deposited from a tube with the inner surface of which the concrete is in contact and tamped and consolidated within a hole in which this tube is disposed, by vertical vibratory movements given to the tube, the.

pile being built up and the tube gradually and automatically caused to rise in the hole upon the concrete, by a succession of operations each of which involves the depositing of a portion of the concrete from the tube by an impulsive upward movement of the said tube and the tamping of the deposited concrete by a structural part of the tube on the downward movement of the said tube.

1. Apparatus for constructing concrete piles or columns in situ, comprising a tube which contains the concrete in contact with its inner surface and is disposed in a hole in which the pile is to be formed, and means for imparting vertical vibratory movements to said tube.

5. Apparatus for constructing concrete piles or columns in situ, comprising a tube which contains the concrete in contact with its inner surface and is disposed in a hole in which the pile is to be formed and means for imparting upward shocks to said tube for raising it step by step out of said hole and depositing the concrete therein.

6. Apparatus for constructing concrete piles or columns in situ, comprising a tube which contains the concrete in contact with its inner surface and is disposed in a hole in which the pile is to be formed and a power operated hammer for imparting upward shocks to said tube for raising it step by step out of said hole anddepositing the concrete therein.

7. Apparatus for constructing concrete piles or columns in situ, comprising a tube which contains the concrete in contact with its inner surface and is disposed in a hole in which the pile is to be formed and a power-operated hammer carried by said tube for imparting upward shocks to said tube for raising it step by step out of said hole and depositing the concrete therein.

8. Apparatus for constructing concrete piles or columns in situ, comprising a. tube which contains the concrete in contact with its inner surface and is disposed in a hole in which the pile is to be formed, a power operated hammer for imparting upward shocks to said tube for raising it step by step out of said hole and depositing the concrete therein and means for exerting an upward pull on said tube during the operation of said hammer.

9. Apparatus for constructing concrete piles or columns in situ, comprising a tube which contains the concrete in contact with its inner surface and is disposed in a hole in which the pile is to be formed, a power operated hammer for imparting upward shocks to said tube for raising it step by step out of said hole and depositing the concrete therein, and a winch and ropes for exerting an upward pull on said tube during the operation of said hammer.

10. Apparatus for constructing concrete piles or columns in situ, comprising a tube which contains the concrete in contact with its inner surface and is disposed in a hole in which the pile is to be formed, a power operated hammer for imparting upward shocks to said tube for raising it step by step out of said hole and depositing the concrete therein, means'for exerting an upward pull on said tube during the operation of said hammer and a spring in the connections be said tube. ALFRED HILEY.

tween said means and 

